1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a developing apparatus and a developing method for processing a substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer W or a LCD substrate, namely, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display, having a surface coated with a resist and processed by an exposure process by a developing process, a coating and developing system, and a storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
A manufacturing process for manufacturing a semiconductor device or an LCD substrate forms a resist patter on a substrate by photolithography. Photolithography includes a series of steps of coating a surface of a substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, referred to as “wafer”) with a resist film by applying a resist solution to the surface, exposing the resist film to light through a photomask, and processing the exposed resist film by a developing process to form a desired pattern. Generally, those processes are carried out by a resist pattern forming system built by connecting a coating and developing system that carries out a resist solution application process and a developing process, and an exposure system.
Referring to FIG. 12, a known developing apparatus disclosed in JP-A 2005-210059 has a vertically movable, rotating spin chuck 1 for horizontally supporting a wafer W thereon, and a developer pouring nozzle 11 disposed above a wafer W supported on the spin chuck and provided with a small pouring pore. Shown in FIG. 12 are a cup 12, a liquid container 13 and a drain port 14. As mentioned in JP-A 2006-60084, the developer pouring nozzle 11 is moved radially relative to a wafer W being rotated about a vertical axis to wet the surface of the wafer W by pouring the developer onto the wafer W in a spiral bead of the developer. The wafer W wetted with the developer is processed by a stationary developing process for a predetermined time of, for example, 60 s, and then a rinsing liquid, such as pure water, is poured through a rinsing nozzle 15 onto a central part of the upper surface of the wafer W. Thus, parts, insoluble in the developer, of the resist film remain on the wafer W in a resist pattern.
A known developing apparatus pours a developer onto a surface of a wafer W through a developer pouring nozzle having outlet opening of a length corresponding to the diameter of the wafer W, rotates the wafer W half a turn about a vertical axis to spread the developer over the surface of the wafer W. Another known developing apparatus pours a developer onto a surface of a wafer W through a developer pouring nozzle having outlet opening of a length corresponding to the diameter of the wafer W, and moves the developer pouring nozzle horizontally relative to the wafer W to spread the developer over the surface of the wafer W.
The further improvement of the throughput of the developing apparatus is desired to improve the throughput of the coating and developing system including the developing apparatus. Overhead time, namely, time needed by work other than a developing process by which a wafer W is processed and a cleaning process using a rinsing liquid, needs to be further curtailed to improve the throughput of the developing apparatus. Reduction of time needed by a substrate carrying device for transferring a wafer W to the developing apparatus and for receiving a wafer W processed by the developing device from the developing apparatus may be effective in improving the throughput of the developing apparatus. Nothing is mentioned about such measures in IP-A 2005-210059 and JP-A 2006-60084.